Blackstenius sweeps Sweden into last eight

Sweden are purring and will fear nobody in the knockouts.

- Nick Ames

This was a routine victory and, make no mistake, tougher tests lie ahead than the obstacle posed by a limited Poland.

The underdogs could, and really should, have been put far out of sight before Lina Hurtig completed the scoring and the only quibble for Peter Gerhardsson may be that his players were not more clinical.

Nonetheless they will top Group C if they avoid defeat against Germany and, with Stina Blackstenius and Kosovare Asllani opening their accounts either side of the break, have enough stars hitting form to sense opportunity knocking.

Sweden tore into Poland and could have been out of sight within 13 minutes.

By then they had hit the crossbar twice, first when Johanna Rytting Kaneryd delivered for Asllani to loop a stretching header against the frame.

Then Hanna Lundkvist, making ground from right-back, found Madelen Janogy arriving late from the opposite flank to produce an effort that met a similar fate, this time clipping the top.

That was far from the sum of Sweden's pressure. The Chelsea right winger Rytting Kaneryd was a particular menace, almost unplayable through her mixture of speed and balance.